Take permission before leaving workstation

The Supreme Court (SC) administration has again directed lower court judges to not leave their workstations without permission from authorities.

SC Registrar General Dr Md Zakir Hossain on Thursday issued a circular to this effect on direction of Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain.

The circular directed district and sessions court judges, district judges, chief judicial magistrates, chief metropolitan magistrates and additional district and sessions judges to not leave their workplaces without permission from the SC registrar general.

Violation of the directive will be considered as misconduct, the circular said.

SC had earlier issued several circulars in this regard in a bid to quickly dispose of the cases, reduce backlog and avoid long delay in settling the matter at court.

But it has been noted that judges at subordinate courts and judicial officers leave their workstations without prior approval from proper authorities.

Many have been found to leave before the end of their office hours on the last working day of the week.

Such practices deprive litigants from justice, disrupt the functions of judicial administration and damage the image of the judiciary. Such situation of judicial administration is completely unexpected, unwarranted and unwanted, the SC circular added.